With the onset of spring in US/Europe and summer in India, it’s raining posts on gardening as people get ready to get their hands dirty. That’s how I discovered absolutely beautiful things – a beautiful blog by interior designer and decorating shop (Black & Spiro) owner Anna Spiro who lives in Brisbane, Australia. If you haven’t seen pictures of fresh produce from her herb garden, I suggest you do. You’ll be tempted to start one no matter how limited space you have. Her greens are refreshing infectious… Bringing greenery inside the house goes a long way in giving an immediate facelift to a room. And, I think it’s novel to keep them in the bathroom as well by the side of the window if the area is spacious. In many apartments today, plants don’t thrive well because of lack of sunlight and high humidity. For space challenged areas, stacking pots…
I’m happy that the cold is slowly receding giving way to pleasant weather. But that’s not what I want to share with you all today. I have some very exciting news for you : our balcony garden is thriving and the tomatoes are ready for picking. Woohoo! We – my son and I – the gardeners of the house plan to pick the first harvest of the season tomorrow. If you recollect, I wrote about five vegetables to grow in balconies last summer. We lost tomato saplings twice in succession to some annoying rodents in the balcony. We were lucky the third time and the plants have survived month-long vacation, weather changes among other things to grow into mature plants. This is how the plants looked mid-January. In the first week of December, when we left for vacation, the plant was growing real fast, almost a feet and half tall.…
Good Morning! I’m in great spirits now because after months of rodent issue, I can see my hibiscus flowering again. There was a time, last winter to be precise, when there was always a flower or tow in the plant to greet me every morning. And then began the rodent issue when buds would get nipped off before they could flower. I was worried of losing my most successful plant. But it’s turning for the better now. It can be disheartening to see your plants wither away a week after you’ve got them from the nursery for lack of sunlight, inadequate water, pests or insufficient care. No matter what the reason is, it’s hard to see the plants go. And, when you’ve done it a few times, it can get discouraging. If you have little time to spare but want to indulge your green thumb, start with these really easy…
Who doesn’t love a green, blooming balcony? There are hundreds of blogs that list tips and tricks to bring the picture-perfect image to your balcony. But, we all know it takes a lot more than pictures to sow and harvest herbs on a windowsill. I’ve just spent hours sifting through scores of urban gardening blogs to find a few that are helpful to novice gardeners. My motive was to dig out blogs by urban Indian gardeners, but I was successful in finding only two that fit my criteria – frequency of updates, pictures, and well-documented steps and conducive conditions for growing plants. Geek Gardener – is replete with information on container gardening and various varieties of vegetables to grow in a particular month in India. Despite the low frequency of posts, Geek Gardener is an excellent resource for growing vegetables in a tropical climate. Every post has pictures of plants…
How have you all been doing? I had a fabulous, if only a busy, weekend driving to the outer parts of the city. Going away from civilization was rejuvenating in many ways. As we re-entered the Ring road, I could feel the CO2-high air dampening my spirit. On the brighter side, we came back with good memories and dozens of pictures.
The drive down the Varthur village road leading to Sarjapur village is a treat to one’s senses: a whiff of fresh air, greenery as far as the eyes can see, a variety of birds from kingfisher to wood pecker cooing around the trees, and vendors selling freshly picked Jackfruit by the roadside to appease your taste buds. And, it’s just a 15 minute drive from Marathahalli on a busy Saturday afternoon. What more can one ask for so close to a concrete jungle that Marathahalli-Brookefields-Whitefield section has become?
One thing that’s hard to miss on this stretch are the numerous nurseries of all sizes and colors dotting the narrow road leading to Sarjapur village. I stopped by a few to click pictures and picked a few more plants for my balcony. Some of them are so big that it’s overwhelming to choose just one or two plants (isn’t small beautiful?). I know the limitations I have: in a south-east balcony with very limited sunlight, it’s tough to tend to flowering plants. But, flowering plants are my eye-candy. I just can’t get over them. Ferns, Cacti, Palm, or Crotons don’t appeal as much as a herb, vegetable or Petunia and Glaxonia.
The picture below is of Madeena nursery. I recommend this place if you intend to buy in bulk. You will grow tired looking at the flowering plants, for it’s never ending. The Hibiscuses, in particular, are big, bright and beautiful. The guys are knowledgeable about the sun, shade, and semi-shade plants. There is very little room for bargaining. Most of their regular visitors are villa owners from the neighborhood. If you hear radical sentiments echoing on a radio, you’ve found the right place. I just bought a Tulsi(Basil) for Rs.15 from here.
After doing a couple store/studio tours, I’m returning to my first love – gardening. Thanks to Natti, I discovered the nursery at Jeeven Bhima Nagar in Bangalore. Managed by physically challenged people, the nursery is well planned, maintained and customer-friendly. In absolutely no hurry to rush back home last Saturday morning, I indulged myself looking at the plants. Over to you all now :)
Flowering plants:
The nursery stocks only basic flowering plants as of now. According to the manager, they should be getting more of the Gloxinias, Star clusters, Passion flower and Petunias by this weekend.
What I liked about the nursery:
If you are a novice gardener like me, these are questions you will relate to. Do I need to water everyday? Will this plant require too much sunlight? Will it grow well in semi-shade? Sometimes, our questions tend to irritate the nursery folks. This nursery solves that formidable selection problem for us. The nursery is segregated into three sections: full sun, semi-shade and full-shade. Every plant in each section, is further labeled with its name and price making it a lot easier to choose. If you still have any doubts, the folks are pretty helpful and knowledgeable.
Price is another talking point of the nursery. For instance, you can get an aloe vera plant for Rs.15 or a lilly for Rs. 50.
Pictures of some blooms in my balcony today:
Watering the right amount at the right time is essential to your plants’ well-being. Plants have a way of communicating to us through the color of their leaves when they receive too much or too little water. Find out if your kindness is killing them. Yellow leaves? Brown leaves? Dried tips? Water – check. Repotted soil – check. Ample sunlight – check. No pests – check. A quick look at the checklist says everything’s taken care of. So, what’s killing them? Sometimes you wish there was a plant doctor who could diagnose what’s wrong with the plants, don’t you? I definitely do. But, you learn some invaluable lessons over time by observation. It’s easy to step over the fine line between caring for plants and overdoing it. As Stephanie Donaldson says, our kindness can prove fatal for houseplants. Over-watering or lack of water are the most common reasons for healthy…
Before we get to the wooden collections from Jin Kuramoto Studio, let me tell you how I got there. I have two identical terra cotta pots with an interesting shape waiting to be painted and planted. I got it on my trip to Mahabalipuram; so they’ve been sitting in my balcony for over a month. I can’t settle on a design/color for the pots, and am constantly looking for fresh ideas. While scouting for modern patterns, I discovered materialicious. According to the folks who run the site, “materialicious™ (“shelter, materials and objects”) is a user-submitted visual curation site featuring modern architecture and design, craftsmanship, materials and products.” True to every word. You can’t get your eyes off the page once you start browsing, and before you realise you’ve spent enough time wasting looking at the stunners. Now, materialicious is what led me to Jin Kuramoto Studio. The wooden tea sets…
If you are new to gardening, here are five vegetables that are easy to grow in pots in a small space such as a balcony. Take this small step towards growing your own food.